Deadlocked by Charlaine Harris Read Free Book Online

to. “The other thing is from me,” he continued.
    Only the fact that I’d had to control my face all my life kept me from giving him major Doubtful. Mustapha? Giving me advice?
    “I’m a lone wolf,” he said, by way of preamble.
    I nodded. He hadn’t affiliated with the Shreveport werewolves, all members of the Long Tooth pack.
    “When I first blew into Shreveport, I looked into joining. I even went to a pack gathering,” Mustapha said.
    It was the first chink I’d seen in his “I’m badass and I don’t need anyone” armor. I was startled that he’d even tried. Alcide Herveaux, the packleader in Shreveport, would have been glad to gain a strong wolf like Mustapha.
    “The reason I didn’t even consider it is because of Jannalynn,” he said. Jannalynn Hopper was Alcide’s enforcer. She was about as big as a wasp, and she had the same nature.
    “Because Jannalynn’s really tough and she would challenge someone as alpha as you?” I said.
    He inclined his head. “She wouldn’t leave me standing. She would push and push until we fought.”
    “You think she could win? Over you.” I made it not quite a question. With Mustapha’s size advantage and his greater experience, I could not fathom why Mustapha had a doubt he would be the victor.
    He inclined his head again. “I do. Her spirit is big.”
    “She likes to feel in charge? She has to be the baddest bitch in the fight?”
    “I was in Hair of the Dog yesterday, early evening. Just to spend some time with the other Weres after I got through working for the vamps, get the smell of Eric’s house out of my nose … though we got a deader hanging around at the Hair, lately. Anyway, Jannalynn was talking to Alcide while she was serving him a drink. She knows you loaned Merlotte some money to keep his bar afloat.”
    I shifted in my chair, suddenly uneasy. “I’m a little surprised Sam told her, but I didn’t ask him to keep it a secret.”
    “I’m not so sure he did tell her. Jannalynn’s not above snooping when she thinks she ought to know something, and she doesn’t even think of it as snooping. She thinks of it as fact-gathering. Here’s the bottom line: Don’t cross that bitch. You’re on the borderline with her.”
    “Because I helped Sam? That doesn’t make any sense.” Though my sinking heart told me it did.
    “Doesn’t need to. You helped him when she couldn’t. And that galls her. You ever seen her when she’s got a mad on?”
    “I’ve seen her in action.” Sam always liked such challenging women. I could only conclude that she saved her softer, gentler side for him.
    “Then you know how she treats people she sees as a threat.”
    “I wonder why Alcide hasn’t picked Jannalynn as his first lady, or whatever the term is,” I said, just to veer away from the subject for a moment. “He made her pack enforcer, but I would have thought he would pick the strongest female wolf as his mate.”
    “She’d love that,” Mustapha said. “I can smell that on her. He can smell that on her. But she don’t love Alcide, and he don’t love her. She’s not the kind of woman he likes. He likes women his own age, women with a little curve to ’em. Women like you.”
    “But she told Alcide …” I had to stop, because I was hopelessly confused. “A few weeks ago, she advised Alcide he should try to seduce me,” I said awkwardly. “She thought I would be an asset to the pack.”
    “If you’re confused, think how Jannalynn’s feeling.” Mustapha’s face might have been carved in stone. “She’s got a relationship with Sam, but you were able to save him when she wasn’t. She halfway wants Alcide, but she knows he wanted you, too. She’s big in the pack, and she knows you have pack protection. You know what she can do to people who don’t.”
    I shuddered. “She does enjoy the enforcement,” I said. “I’ve watched her. Thanks for the heads-up, Mustapha. If you’d like a drink or something to eat, the offer still